The Wrong Princess
by Harpo Wilkinson
Summary: Mario has just thwarted Bowser once again, and it was Bowser's nastiest plan yet; he had kidnapped Princess Peach (again), but this time, by lifting her entire castle up (he's done this before), but not just into the air. He lifted it into space! Yet Mario beat him again, with help from the stars, but the princess' castle is a mess. But, while Bowser's gone, someone else comes...


**DISCLAIMER: Super Mario and all related characters, objects and settings are copyright to Nintendo.**

Princess Peach's Castle was a nice place normally. It wasn't such a nice place after it had fallen back to the Mushroom Planet from the centre of the universe, as the entire place was a mess. The glass windows were smashed. The carpet was burned. The doors were unhinged, some on the floor in front of the doorway. The walls and ceilings were covered in holes. The paintings were crooked. In other words, complete mess. Don't even get me started on the bedrooms.

Either way, there was lots of work to do, and there were constantly Toads running around trying to fix it. There were ladders everywhere, most with Toads on them, with paint to paint the walls, extra glass for the windows, and much, much more; and while these Toads worked, Princess Peach Toadstool, Chancellor Toadsworth and a few other Toads were talking in the middle of the main hall.

This was the sight that greeted Mario when he walked into the castle after saving Princess Peach - and the castle, for that matter - from Bowser in the centre of the universe. Princess Peach turned to see him.

"Mario," she said, "come over here, we're just discussing some matters concerning Bowser and the extreme damage he's done this time."

Toadsworth was saying something about sending a squadron of Toads from the army to capture Bowser and take him prisoner. "Perhaps he would stop pestering us after some time in the castle's basement?"

A blue Toad wearing glasses to his left said, "No, that is too much a Bowser move, by boogity! It's cruel to keep someone locked away, as you, Your Highness, should know, am I right, by boogity?"

"Yes, Toadbert is very right." Princess Peach said. "Either way, even if it serves him right, it's much too cruel for _us_ to do something like that."

Toadsworth was aghast. "But, Your Majesty, it's been done to you several times! Surely we must take action before it happens again?"

Another Toad said, "But wait! What happened to the security system we set up? Didn't that keep Bowser away?"

"In case you aren't aware, the entire castle was taken into space this last time! How can we possible set up such a security system to stop him doing _that_?" Peach said.

Mario opened his mouth to say something, but just at that moment, a spaceship appeared in the sky above the castle. It was much smaller than the one that took the castle away - it wouldn't be able to lift the castle. But it soon flew in through a window that it broke and sent a Toad on a ladder flying, and the poor thing hit the ground with a loud thumping noise as a bunch of Toads from another room came to drag him off; as this happened, Mario looked up into the air where the spaceship was. A purple alien appeared inside the glass dome covering the hole on the top of the spaceship.

"At last," it said, "I'm back. Finally!"

Mario recognised that voice, there's no mistaking it. But where could he have seen this odd creature...?

Toadsworth stared up at it. "Whoever could possibly arrive at a time like this? Begone, stranger!"

The alien ignored him. "Ah, this place...looks so different to my last visit! I guess it is remodelling time in Sarasaland..."

As Mario had suspected, it was Tatanga, or as he likes to say, "Tatanga the Mysterious Spaceman" (though he's not very mysterious), the evil purple alien that Mario first encountered in Sarasaland. In fact, Mario had only encountered Tatanga in Sarasaland, and only once; but contrary to Mario's hopes, Tatanga didn't stay gone, though he did stay away for a very long time - and when he returned, it wasn't to Sarasaland, either (though he seemed to think it was) but to the Mushroom Kingdom - but now, that very long time was over; and Tatanga had returned to the Mushroom Planet.

Stress got the better of Princess Peach. She walked a little closer to the alien, obviously rather angry. "This isn't Sarasaland! Now, leave us! Can't you see we've got enough trouble already?"

"You can't fool me!" shouted Tatanga gleefully. "My spaceship never gets a destination wrong! And why else would Mario -" he looked at Mario at this point - "be here? Answer me!"

"How dare you speak to the princess in such a manner!" Toadsworth shouted back, and this made Tatanga angry.

"You asked for it."

Suddenly, dark clouds filled the sky above the castle. Toads all over the place had gone into hiding inside different rooms, and before Mario knew what was going on, Toadsworth tried to jab at him with his cane, almost killing him; but Mario's experience saved him. His instincts told him to jump to the side, missing Toadsworth's attack by a few centimetres...but why did Toadsworth, of all people, attack him? Mario tried to remember if Tatanga tried something like this before...

"Mario, from above!" cried Peach as she swatted an attacking Toad with purple spots and a yellow vest aside.

A yellow spotted Toad in a red vest tried to jump on Mario, but he threw his hands up in the air to block it. Thank goodness the princess wasn't acting strange as well. Another Toad with blue spots and a green vest tried a punch attack. Mario hopped up into the air and countered it by landing on the Toad's head. The Toads were advancing, and Mario was backing away as he tried to remember the last time Tatanga was on the planet, when it hit him. _Hypnotism_.

Mario backed into the princess. They were back-to-back and completely surrounded by hypnotised Toads. Tatanga flew down a little lower so that Mario saw him up-close for the first time since last time.

"I don't remember any mushrooms since my last visit," he said angrily, "and I don't like them one bit, with their stupidly strong minds."

Mario spotted Toad with red spots and a blue vest that appeared to be trying to jump on him. He put his hands up to block the attack, but this was what the Toad had been hoping for. The Toad landed in front of Mario, and punched him in his now-vulnerable face, causing him to collapse backwards onto the floor behind him. Peach tripped over Mario's arm - which was above his head when he collapsed - and fell backwards onto him with a light _thud_.

Mario was feeling really faint, and Princess Peach was so tired she couldn't find the strength to stand up. She looked pleadingly at the Toads, though she knew it was no use. Peach turned around to come face-to-face with the inside of an empty rucksack held by Tatanga as he swooped down on his spaceship.

Mario opened his eyes one last time to see a Toad holding a large hammer over one shoulder, looking down at him, before falling entirely unconscious.


End file.
